By Ramone Tarnaski

Federal authorities repeatedly used tear gas against protesters in downtown Portland, lawmakers blasted the federal response to the protests in Portland, and Portland demonstrators marched to the city's ice rink after running away last night while police revealed they had arrested more than 500 people in 85 nights of demonstrations. As the protests continue to rage, Portland police have released a list of arrests and arrests of demonstrators during the last 90 days of protests in Portland.

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) declared a riot during one of the protests in early June. On July 8, it was revealed that the first days of June had the largest number of demonstrators in the city's history, with more than 10,000 people. Police also reported that protesters broke into the Portland Police Association building and set it on fire. Protesters also gathered outside the police station, berating officers and vandalizing patrol cars, police said.

Saturday afternoon's clashes followed a series of clashes between protesters and officers from the Portland Police Department in the early hours of the morning. Saturday morning's clashes with police followed an afternoon altercation after a group of protesters outside a downtown Portland police station on Saturday, July 8.


After Saturday afternoon's clashes, there were further tensions between protesters and police after a brief respite, including in Portland, although the demonstrations were much smaller. Protesters at the scene of the federal courthouse after Trump sent agents to Oregon's largest city in early July. Protests on federal property have generally remained peaceful, but Saturday afternoon's clashes were followed by a series of clashes with Portland Police Department officers in the early hours of Saturday, July 8.

Later that day, the ACLU of Oregon filed a lawsuit to stop federal authorities from using force against protesters at the Multnomah County Justice Center. Federal police have begun to play a more visible and active role in the night-time protests in Portland, drawing protesters "attention from the multibillion-dollar headquarters of the Portland Police Department to the street and back to the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse across the street. Within 14 days, enforcement of federal laws has increasingly become an occupying power. Demonstrators and journalists who regularly turned up at nighttime demonstrations agree that a siege is taking place.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler referred to his statement earlier this week in the local press about law enforcement's handling of protesters. President Trump praised federal agencies for their response to the protests in Portland, saying they were doing "a great job. During a conversation with Attorney General Bill Barr in the Oval Office later in the day, Trump again spoke about the protests in Portland and again alluded to a larger role that federal law and enforcement could play in cities across the country that resemble Portland.

The violent incidents have sparked a nationwide debate about the protests in Portland and drawn attention in the country's news outlets. Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf met with federal officials Tuesday and issued a press release condemning the "rampant and prolonged violence" in Portland, including a timeline claiming violence by anarchists on the streets of Portland. Portland police issued a warning about two hours after the protests began that police were ready to use weapons to control the crowd if violence did not stop. Portland's deputy police chief Chris Davis met with the media on Wednesday after a failed strategy to end the night-time demonstrations.

Fireworks across the country, including Portland, were canceled due to the pandemic, but protesters filled the void. Dozens of residents have formed carpooling groups to protest in Portland as activity waned closer to where they live.


For Tiffany Beckman-Turner, taking part in the protests in Portland has become a way of life for her and her husband Chris.
They were involved in injuries, vandalism and other crimes (3) , arson (4), and sometimes heated confrontations with the police. The protests in Portland were peaceful, but on August 16, a man was beaten and left with a gunshot wound to the back of the head. She said her experience with the protests in Portland was peaceful until she had to leave after federal police and protesters began clashing in the late hours of the night. The protests ranged from unidentified demonstrators taking part in violent demonstrations that turned into arson and vandalism, to violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers.

Smothers, 25, began documenting the protests in Salem in early May and gained national attention with a clip showing a Salem police officer talking to a gunman outside a downtown store about what he could do to evade a curfew. Beckman, who works at Oregon State Hospital, became suspicious of counter-demonstrators but remained active during the protests in Salem.

About 3,000 protesters gathered Saturday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and continued their protests early Sunday morning, the AP reported. A few dozen protesters also gathered outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sunday. The crowd gathered outside the PDX Black Youth Movement, which organized the protest, where at least one person held up a sign calling for the abolition of Portland police.